Curated OER
Dinosaur Tracks and Critical Thinking
Get your young scientists excited about geology through the study of dinosaur tracks! They will use their power of observation to learn how tracks are made and use critical thinking strategies to suggest a scenario in which they were...
Curated OER
Animal Signs
Students discuss the many different types of animal signs that can be used to identify and track animals. They participate in an hands-on activity in which they examine tracks, trails, homes, territory markings, and even "scat" left by...
Curated OER
Neat Feet
Students view a video and discuss different kinds of feet found in the animal kingdom. They make prints using paint, rubber stamps and their own feet and then measure and compare the tracks.
Curated OER
Birds - Beaks and Feet
Second graders use an online database to research information about bird's beaks and feet. Using that information, they discover what foods they eat and where they live. In groups, they cluster the food/habitat and beak/feet data to make...
Curated OER
Dinosaur Tracks: From Stride To Leg Length To Speed
Students determine the relationship between leg length, stride length, and speed in humans and bipedal dinosaurs. They collect data and graph these human characteristics then use actual data collected from dinosaur track pads and fossils...
Curated OER
How Does a Migration Move Forward?
Middle schoolers record and examine migration data, and calculate how fast and far a migrating animal travels and what influences its progression. They utilize the Journey North website to follow their migrating animals.
Curated OER
Animal Tracks
Young scholars are introduced to the topic of area. In groups, they share various techniques to help them identify different shapes and work together to calculate the area. They use this same knowledge to determine the area of animal...
Curated OER
Living in a Tree
Students explore animals that live in trees. In this nature and biology instructional activity, students go outdoors and make observations about animals and their unique body parts that help them to live in trees. Students create...
Curated OER
Arctic Animals: How Do They Measure Up?
Young scientists grab their measuring tapes, rulers, and yard sticks as they see how big Arctic animals really are. To conceptualize the trait of height or length, each small group will measure out the entire length of an arctic animal....
California Academy of Science
Snakes and Lizards Length and Movement
Snakes and lizards can be very tiny or very long. Your class will get out their rulers to see just how big snakes and lizards can be. They discuss several different reptiles by reading the included animal fact cards, then each small...
Curated OER
Animals and Humans
Students identify the functions of various body parts. They participate in the "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes" song, draw a picture of themselves and other mammals, and create a traced outline of their body that they add features to....
Curated OER
Tracking in Wisconsin
Students examine how to identify the tracks and track patterns of some common Wisconsin animals. They examine how the footprints of these animals reveal how different feet help different animals navigate the winter snow or survive in...
Curated OER
Under Our Feet
Students investigate the forest ecosystem to learn of the living and non-living elements of the soil. In this ecosystem lesson plan, students examine soil for twigs, moss, fungi, leaves, roots and other matter. Students...
Curated OER
Investigating Evolutionary Questions: Bats, Whales, Reptiles, Birds, Animal Classification
Students are guided through a process in which three questions are addressed by retrieving beta hemoglobin sequences from online databases, and using online tools to compare those sequences in student-selected animals.
Curated OER
Hawaiian Bird Beak Adaptation
Students explore adaptation by participating in a lab activity. In this bird characteristics lesson, students discuss the different purposes birds have for their beaks and conduct an experiment testing which beaks collect food best....
University of Southern California
What Lives In The Ocean?
One of the most diverse environments on Earth is the ocean. Young scientists explore the living things found in the ocean during an exciting seven-lesson unit. Their study includes organisms from plankton to invertebrates...
Curated OER
How Big Is A Humpback Whale?
Students explore humpback whales. In this humpback whale instructional activity, students determine the actual size of humpback whales and use diagrams to identify the major features of the humpback whale.
Curated OER
Bridge Building lab
Students investigate the 4 types of bridges and their strengths and weaknesses at an Internet Website. They describe one type of bridge that they have seen. Students pair off and face each other with their palms touching and feet flat...
Curated OER
Life Underground
First graders build a terrarium in order to observe animal and plant life dynamics. In this biology lesson, 1st graders compare how organisms survive in different environments. They write their observations and analysis in their journal.
NOAA
Graphing Temperatures
Battle of the hemispheres? In the fourth installment of a five-part series, young oceanographers use the NOAA website to collect temperature data from drifters (buoys), one in the Northern Hemisphere and one in the Southern Hemisphere....
Curated OER
Animal Body Coverings
First graders compare and contrast animals according to their various body coverings, (fur, scales, shells). Students discuss the different body coverings they have seen on animals. They conduct a sensory experiment in which they feel...
Curated OER
Making Tracks
Fifth graders examine the fossil footprints of two and four legged dinosaurs. Using this information, they try to determine how the dinosaurs lived their lives. They use their own walking pattern to compare it to the dinosaurs and...
Curated OER
Using a Dichotomous Key for Invertebrate Phyla
Students use a key to determine the phyla of invertebrates. They are broken into groups and each group gets a stack of pictures and uses the key to determine which phyla the animal belongs to. There are also individual questions for...
Curated OER
Footprint Detectives: Making Inferences Using Dinosaur Trackways
Students analyze and discuss footprints and dinosaur tracks. They listen to books about paleontologists, create and analyze their own trackways using black paper and chalk, examine the data, and form hypotheses about footprints and...